Snow Treasure

McSwigan celebrates the ingenuity of the Norwegian locals who successfully smuggle Norwegian gold out of the country and resist the Nazi’s efforts to steal the wealth for their own purposes. While the mass movement of adults to a certain location would arouse the Germans’ suspicion, Victor Lundstrom’s plan to utilize children demonstrates ingenuity in that the children of Riswyk are expected to play in the snow and can thereby escape the suspicion and scrutiny of the Nazi occupiers. As Victor, who comes up with the plan, victoriously tells Lars, “Peter’s nearly thirteen. It’s Peter and the ones his age who can save our gold” (11).

The success of the diversion is evident in Peter, Lovisa, Helga Thomsen, and Michael’s first trip to the Snake fiord with some of the bullion, for when the kindly German captain moves his men aside to make way for the children’s sleds, it is clear that the sledding children evoke a sense of nostalgia in the man, who “liked nothing better than sledding” (51) when he was a boy. Thus, the ingenuity of Victor’s plan is vindicated, for he has strategically employed the carefree vision of children at play to conceal a far more serious endeavor. Sleds and snowmen, which are originally symbolic of carefree childhood play, become symbols of ingenuity and resistance as the children of Riswyk successfully hoodwink the Nazi soldiers. The children’s role in the resistance is celebrated by McSwigan through the details of the hardships of this undertaking. Over months of hard sledding, the children transport 1,300 gold bricks, each weighing 18.5 pounds. The value of the gold is 20,000 kroner. The challenging and physical nature of this task is emphasized, for McSwigan takes care to elucidate that “the sleds had to be dragged on the level stretches of the woods and down on the beach,” (48), all without arousing suspicion.

Ingenuity in resisting the Nazi occupiers is further illustrated in the town’s fabrication of a measles-like disease in order to thwart the Commandant’s order that the children should return to school. This allows the children to remain available for the gold-smuggling scheme. Dr. Aker’s disingenuous commentary to the Commandant is also designed to convey a sense of satisfaction in the use of cleverness to rebel, and the narrative itself carries a smug vibe as McSwigan states, “School? Well school was out of the question during an epidemic. Dr. Aker went to the Commandant to explain why his order could not be carried out” (89). The very idea of a member of the oppressed Norwegian town explaining why a German order cannot be obeyed demonstrates a different flavor of resistance and contributes to the larger theme.

Resistance to occupation is illustrated in a more conspicuous way when the men of Riswyk leave to fight the invading Nazis in the south of Norway. Peter reflects, when the Commandant orders the children back to school, that, “the Commandant didn’t know that Mr. Anders, the schoolmaster, had joined the Norwegian Army, had gone away to fight” (82). Similarly, Peter’s own father, Lars Lundstrom, is fighting for the Norwegian army. Toward the end of the novel, Victor explains that this armed resistance has been unsuccessful: “[O]ur army is putting up a magnificent defense but it’s only a question of time until it can no longer hold out. Then the order will come to cease firing” (155). With this passage, McSwigan refers to the surrender of Norway, which occurred on June 9, 1940. This further emphasizes the important role the children of Riswyk have played in allowing the Norwegian gold to be successfully smuggled to safety, as Norway will continue to be occupied by the Nazis for the foreseeable future. (In fact, the Nazis occupy Norway until the German surrender on May 7, 1945).